<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>river rushing by letterstothemoon</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26590264">river rushing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/letterstothemoon/pseuds/letterstothemoon'>letterstothemoon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(markhyuck's story as told in stages), Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Introspection, M/M, Romance, as always: no beta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:22:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26590264</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/letterstothemoon/pseuds/letterstothemoon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Donghyuck is the sun, and Mark yearns for an eternal summer.</p><p>(A tale as old as time; the story of two boys, falling, falling, falling.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan &amp; Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>343</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>river rushing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For all that he’s grown and matured over the years since first showing up at SM Entertainment as a snarky twelve-year-old with a big attitude, one thing has remained constant about Lee Donghyuck.</p><p>And that one thing is this: Lee Donghyuck has a <em>big mouth</em>.</p><p>Donghyuck having a big mouth (in that he’s loud, and wretchedly bratty) is one of the irrefutable facts of his existence, Mark thinks.</p><p>That, and he’s the <em>biggest </em>pain in the ass.</p><p>At least, that’s how it seems to thirteen-year-old Mark, whose Korean is still edging on mediocre, and whose voice has just started to crack. He meets Donghyuck for the first time at the company, and the first thing he sees is this: tan skin, chubby cheeks, a permed bowl-cut. And the first thing he hears: a high-pitched voice, lilting and bright.</p><p>He does not have an opinion of this strange, loud boy at first.</p><p>Not until they’re officially introduced to each other at the dorms, and Lee Donghyuck proves himself to be the most insufferable person in existence, commenting first on Mark’s braces, then his subpar Korean, and because he seems determined to land the number one spot on Mark’s shit-list, he points out the giant pimple brewing right on Mark’s cheekbone.</p><p>It’s after this first meeting that Mark decides that he really, seriously, cannot stand Lee Donghyuck—he doesn’t even care if they’re supposed to be at the same company, because honestly, the words ‘professionalism’ and ‘maturity’ mean nothing to a thirteen-year-old boy whose main feelings center around dreams of being famous, and thoughts of important things like snacks, or which phone is the newest model.</p><p>The universe decides that it has some personal vendetta against Mark, because he and Donghyuck end up being placed into the same classes both in school and at training. Their dance practices and vocal lessons are scheduled for the same time every day. They even go to the same school, horror of all horrors, and even though Donghyuck is the grade below him, Mark seems to see him <em>everywhere</em>.</p><p>Donghyuck does not seem to share the same hesitation about Mark Lee, latching onto him with a sort of tenacity that should not be typical of any person in the world. It’s probably because he’s not even human (Mark’s running theory is that he’s actually the devil disguised as a boy, which would explain so much, really).</p><p>Lee Donghyuck has the sort of face that Mark thinks he could punch, if he were the sort of guy who punched people—really, Donghyuck brings out the worst in him—and his voice is grating, even though their vocal teacher likes to say he sings like an angel. Because Mark knows better. Donghyuck is <em>anything</em> but angelic.</p><p>Mark is a mild-mannered and kind boy—at least that’s what his parents and all his teachers at school say—so he doesn’t understand why Donghyuck picks on him so much.</p><p>It’s not until a year later, when Donghyuck pushes too far, crosses the line, and reduces Mark to tears right in the practice room in front of their dance instructor and all the other trainee that things begin to change. The dance instructor loses his temper, tells everyone to get out except for Mark and Donghyuck, and leaves them there to solve their own problems—because if they’re going to debut in the realm of adults, they’re going to have to behave like so.</p><p>Donghyuck looks stricken, and it’s probably the first time Mark has ever seen him look anything other than <em>smug</em>, and Mark realizes that Donghyuck had really thought that they were friends, all this time. Because Donghyuck is likable, he’s sweet and funny and yeah, he’s definitely obnoxious, but he also thought that Mark would react just like every other person Donghyuck managed to befriend.</p><p>Donghyuck ends up crying, too, because he feels so bad, and Mark has to comfort <em>him </em>instead of the other way around—even though he was so sure he hated Donghyuck just twenty minutes before. Instead, Mark finds himself with his arms around the younger boy’s shoulders, and the front of his sweater damp with tears and snot. He learns, then, that Donghyuck is an ugly crier.</p><p>From that day forward, they grow to become something like friends, or at least something on the fringes of it.</p><p>It’s a little awkward at first, because despite his bratty tendencies, Donghyuck has never been cruel, so he’s extra cautious about being nice to Mark. He doesn’t cling at first, instead choosing to maintain his distance, but when a few days go by and it seems like Mark isn’t about to burst into tears again, Donghyuck sidles up to his side in the cafeteria at school and wraps himself around one of Mark’s arm, head nudging against Mark’s chin like a sorry cat.</p><p>Somehow, Mark finds that he isn’t all that annoyed anymore.</p><p>And then it goes a little like this: they become friends, for real this time, and as the days weeks months years go by, Mark stops thinking about Donghyuck as ‘the bully with the loud mouth’, and instead as ‘Lee Donghyuck my best friend’, and their lives come together so that it’s always <em>MarkandDonghyuck</em>, <em>DonghyuckandMark</em>. Together, spoken as one word: a package deal.</p><p>When Mark finds out he’s debuting in NCT U, the first person he tells, even before his mom, is Donghyuck, who screams and flings his arms around Mark’s shoulders. And it speaks to how sweet he actually is, that his first instinct is to congratulate Mark, even though Mark <em>knows</em> Donghyuck is terrified at the thought of never getting to debut. (That night in the dorms Mark hears sniffling, the sound of Donghyuck crying. He rolls over, squeezes his eyes shut, and wills himself to sleep.)</p><p>But Donghyuck’s fears are unfounded because one day they’re called to Lee Sooman’s office along with their hyungs, and they’re told that they’re going to debut in NCT 127—together. Then later, when Donghyuck is called to the office on his own, he emerges and brandishes the name ‘Haechan’ like it’s his birthright. And maybe it is, Mark thinks. He can’t imagine anything better.</p><p>At night in the dorms, they huddle at the foot of Mark’s bed, pressed up together from hip to knee to ankle and watch SM music videos and talk about what it’ll be like to be together in a group, and even though Mark has debuted once already, he finds that the butterflies in his stomach still flutter endlessly at the thought of getting to debut with one of his closest friends.</p><p>The night before their debut, Donghyuck crawls into Mark’s bed and presses his cold nose against Mark’s neck, and cries because he’s overwhelmed, and laughs because he’s overjoyed. Mark listens to his voice, his high, fluting words; lies on his back wordlessly with his arm around Donghyuck’s shoulders because it feels right, and thanks the stars that he was lucky enough to exist in the way he does now.</p><p>When they have their first stage as NCT 127, Mark can’t help but keeping looking at Donghyuck, both backstage and when they’re performing. Donghyuck seems every bit as flushed and giddy as he does, shaky with nerves but oh-so-radiant, mouth cracked into a smile so wide it looks like it hurts.</p><p>Their debut together as NCT 127 cements their relationship, because even when they debut (again) in NCT Dream, Mark thinks, <em>I can’t imagine a world without Lee Donghyuck</em>, and finds that he has no desire to. They hold the same fragile dream in their cupped palms, a burning ember, a single heart that beats a steady rhythm: <em>I want, I want, I want</em>.</p><p>The years go by. They grow from children to men, and Donghyuck’s smile is tempered with maturity, and Mark feels only the phantom whisper of growing pains. The world changes around them. They practice, they perform, they chase a dream that solidifies before their very eyes.</p><p>They grow bigger, and the world grows smaller. The eyes on them double, triple, quadruple, and when Mark thinks of Donghyuck now he thinks, ‘my friend Haechan’, and wonders: where did all the time go?</p><p>And they don’t huddle together at the foot of Mark’s bed whispering about their dreams anymore, because they’re adults now, and adults don’t have the luxury of… of what, exactly?</p><p>They’re both so busy, and a dream that had once been breathlessly uttered in the safety of a quiet, dark room, expands, and expands, and expands, until it’s too big for two boys to hold, too big for seven, nine, ten, too big for home.</p><p>Life happens. Mark graduates from Dream, Donghyuck doesn’t. Mark doesn’t cry, instead wishing that their fans aren’t too sad—but then he watches their performance on his phone, later, when he’s alone in the bathroom and folded under the sink, he sees the kids, heads tucked to their chins, hair covering their wet eyes.</p><p>He sees Donghyuck open his mouth to speak, and then stop, abruptly, head lowering to hide the rush of tears. He watches Donghyuck gather himself, piecing himself together and beginning to speak in that lovely, bright voice of his, thick with tears, and hears the words: <em>today, of all days, is when I miss Mark the most</em>.</p><p>Mark cries, then.</p><p>(He doesn’t tell anyone.)</p><p>But then. Life continues. Miracle of all miracles, Dream comes back together as seven.</p><p>When it’s confirmed, Donghyuck turns to him and beams, heart-shaped and pretty, and Mark thinks: <em>oh</em>.</p><p>Still, time marches onwards. Mark is the youngest he is in this very moment that he will ever get to be again, and he wants to exist, forever, as the person he is today, that he was yesterday, that he will be tomorrow. When they’re on stage and he sees the sea of lights spread out before him, he turns his head up to the sky and thanks God for giving him this, for <em>allowing</em> him this.</p><p>The world changes. Mark debuts again. (Donghyuck’s voice, whispering: <em>my wonder boy. </em>The touch of his hand.)</p><p>Some things remain constant. Donghyuck’s smile, though his face is thinner, his jaw sharper.</p><p>When he finds things overwhelming, wants nothing more than to crawl into his mother’s arms and cry, Mark retreats to his room and listens to music in the cradle of his blankets, pulled high over his head. Sometimes, Donghyuck slips in next to him, tugs out one earbud so that he can listen too, and curls himself around Mark, humming quietly and rocking them gently to-and-fro.</p><p>Lee Donghyuck. Haechan. Mark thinks: <em>he knows me. </em>And, <em>I know him</em>. Then, <em>I’m in love with him.</em></p><p>And it makes sense, it really, really does.</p><p>Things don’t change when he realizes. He still jokes around, gets flustered when Donghyuck clings. Sometimes, though, in quiet moments, he’ll look at Donghyuck, at his pretty, pretty eyes and small, pouting mouth, and want, terribly, to kiss him. Donghyuck is beautiful, and he shines, brilliant and bold, like all things gold. Mark thinks that he lights up every room that he’s in.</p><p>The first time they kiss is an accident.</p><p>Donghyuck’s clinging to him, face somewhere in the general vicinity to Mark’s neck as they watch a movie on Mark’s laptop, except Mark doesn’t realize <em>how </em>close he is, exactly, and when he turns around, he feels his lips land somewhere soft and warm. Donghyuck recoils, eyes so wide it would be funny if Mark’s heart wasn’t about to beat straight out of his chest.</p><p>“Oh,” Donghyuck gasps, and brings his hand up to cover his mouth.</p><p>Mark looks at him, because Donghyuck is blushing, pretty, pretty, pretty. He thinks, <em>I’m screwed</em>, and then lurches forward to kiss his cheek, which is pink and hot to the touch. He says, words bubbling out of him, unstoppable, “Lee Donghyuck, I really, really like you.”</p><p>And Donghyuck says, “You’re the worst, you know that, Mark Lee?”</p><p>Except he’s leaning in, even before the words are fully out of his mouth, and he’s kissing Mark, on the mouth, for real. He tastes of the strawberry gummies they were eating just before, and his lips are dusted with sugary powder. He kisses nothing like the way he speaks.</p><p>He kisses sweetly, hesitantly, with eyes squeezed shut and hands that are shaking even as they reach to grip Mark’s own. Mark brings a hand up to cup Donghyuck’s neck and jaw, feels the way Donghyuck suppresses a shiver and quiet sigh. He’s beautiful, a sight to behold.</p><p>Mark thinks: <em>this feels right. </em></p><p>After all, it’s them, isn’t it? <em>MarkandDonghyuck. DonghyuckandMark</em>. Together, spoken as one word: a package deal. It’s not surprising at all.</p><p>Two boys set on a collision course for the inevitable from the moment they met.</p><p>(They’re meant to be.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(yes i wrote this in a fevered frenzy in like half an hour)</p><p>come chat with me on <a href="https://twitter.com/epistolarymoon">twitter</a> or <a href="https://curiouscat.me/letterstothemoon">curiouscat</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>